


The New Grump

by Siren_Of_Old



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Reader-Insert, and original characters - Freeform, pls no hate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 19:34:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 13,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8340016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siren_Of_Old/pseuds/Siren_Of_Old
Summary: What would it be like if the Grumps hired a couple new interns?





	1. Introducing MapleArcade and Siren

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fandomshere_fandomsthere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomshere_fandomsthere/gifts).



> The first few chapters won't be that explicit, the rating applies for the later chapters. 
> 
> For the person who corrupted me. Thanks @ fam. I needed this fandom.

You turn at the sound of a ping on your open laptop, abandoning your homework in favor of the new distraction. You rise from your bed to plop yourself down into your desk chair, typing your password in to open it. Seeing the notification on your home screen, you let out a tiny cheer and open a new tab for YouTube. Clicking on the new stream, you feel yourself smile.

"Soooooo," The stream starts sort of suddenly, as do most of the Game Grumps' live streams. Dan leans back from the camera, running a hand through his hair. You can see the rest of the Game Grumps lounging around the room with him for this stream. "I'm sure all of you were awaiting this moment."

Someone flicks a chip at him from his left and the lanky man glares at them. Laughter can be heard ringing through the Grump space, as Danny leaps up from the couch to lunge off camera, a scuffle ensuing. Arin eventually rolls his eyes and sits down on the edge of the couch, smiling at the camera.

"Hey there, lovelies." He gives a short wave, his grin almost contagious. You feel your own grin widening in return. "So, we know how excited you all were when we announced that we were searching for new Grumps, and now I bet you guys are even more excited to see who passed our tests to become one of us. And that's why we're here today!"

A murmur can be heard off camera and he turns to listen for a moment. You see Ross lean into the frame with his tongue out, making a peace sign. You watch as a tiny hand grips his hoodie and pulls him back out of frame. More laughter pursues and Arin turns back to the screen.

"Okay, so firstly, they're both shy, so you lovelies have to go easy on them for a bit." You laugh as a protest is heard from somewhere and he too gets a potato chip thrown at him. "Stop it, you!"

Barry, who has been quietly sitting to the left of Arin, makes a gesture towards whoever Arin is talking to. "Come on camera."

You feel yourself leaning forward in anticipation as a curvy girl sits down beside Barry, her hair a lion's mane around her face. She has a pink flush over her cheeks as she smiles at the camera, her smile perfect and white as she timidly waves. Another girl comes into frame on the other side of Arin, with straight blue hair and wide eyes.

"Girls, go ahead." Dan says as he props himself over the back of the couch, his hands on top of Arin's head.

The girls share a glance before nodding. The wild haired girl grins at the camera, waving a little more confidently. She has chubby cheeks when she smiles and you can already feel the fondness for this new person growing with how adorable she is. "Heya, guys. I'm MapleArcade. I'm from Western New York, and I appreciate your excitement to meet us."

The blue haired girl lets out a small laugh as she takes her turn. She seems sort of plain, but that's just human. "Hey, I'm Siren. I'm from the same place as Maple. We grew up together, and uh- I'm really happy to have been accepted here."

The stream goes on from there, the Grumps messing around and just chilling and you feel happy for them, almost complete.

Dweebs.


	2. The First Day

A pillow to the face is not entirely the best way to wake up, but one can say that it is the most effective.

You sputter as your blue haired best friend dances out of your reach, her giant body pillow in hand and a giant grin residing on her face. You grumble about finding a new roommate and roll out of bed, combing your fingers through your hair.

"What time is it?" You ask her as you dig through your dresser drawer for something to wear.

"Nearly seven o'clock," She states, throwing herself down onto your bed. "I figured you'd wanna be awake before seven thirty so we can make it there at eight."

"How considerate," You tease as you grab your shower things.

She threw her pillow at you before flouncing out of the room. "Breakfast is on the table when you're done with your shower."

 

* * *

 

It isn't hard to find the Grump office, but with a hyperactive blue pixie in your passenger seat, you do wind up making a few wrongs turns. So, by the time you arrive, the two of you are at least twenty minutes late. You hesitantly make your way to the door to the office space. She follows behind you, twirling her hair around her fingers.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," You find yourself reassuring both her and yourself as you reach for the doorknob. "And we can always leave earlier tomorrow."

She nods in agreement as the two of you enter the building, anxiety probably written all over your faces.

The first thing you notice about the Grump space is that it's just as it is in their videos; spacious with desks in various places. The second thing you notice is that no one is there. You find yourself glaring around in confusion, your best friend's hands gripping your shoulders.

"Where are they?" She asks, sidling into the room further. "I don't even think Kevin's been here bro."

"What the faaaaahk?" You whisper, pulling out your phone. You pull up a text to Dan and ask where they could be. A few moments after that, you hear a happy Mario tone come from the recording room. A murmur follows and a minute later you get a response from Dan telling you that they were in the Grump space.

Wary, you take your friend's hand and pull her across the office space, to the slightly closed door to the recording room. Pushing it open with the flat of your hand, you find yourself staring at the Grumps completely entangled amongst each other on a bunch of the blankets laid out on the floor. Dan waves at you cheerily.

"Come join us!" He propositions, holding his hand out. You can see that Arin is wrapped around his back, Suzy smooshed in the small space between them with her face pressed into Arin's neck. Barry's back is to Danny's chest and Ross' head is laid out on Barry's stomach. You hesitate, clutching the hand still held in yours.

"Siren," Ross laughs, kicking at her ankle. She glares and kicks back playfully. "Come here please."

The two of you share a look before she drops her bag and leans down, crawling into the space between Barry and Ross. You watch as the two Grumps wind themselves around her almost instantly. Danny steals your attention back by tugging on your pant leg.

"C'mon Mape," Dan splices your name and you wince before sticking your tongue out at him. He leans up and grabs your hand, dragging you down into his arms. You let out a squeak and have to cough as some of his hair gets into your face.

"Sorry," He laughs as Arin nudges your shin with his foot. There's a bit of shuffling and then everything settles into a comfortable silence, warmth surrounding you as you lay in Dan's arms with your head against Barry's shoulders.

"So, you guys do this often?" You ask quietly, feeling your eyes slip closed.

"Whenever Kevin calls in sick." He explains, resting a hand on Barry's hip. "It's much more relaxing than freaking out about Ross' shit ass levels on Mario Maker."

"Fuck you," You hear Ross reply and tinkling laughter fills the air from near him. You smile, snuggling into Dan's chest.

This was a job you were going to enjoy.


	3. Mario Kart

The next few weeks are easy for you. Your job is to help Barry with his editing and keep track of how behind or ahead the recordings are with everyone. There are some times that you find yourself wishing that you had Siren's job of playing games with the Grumps, but you're much more comfortable with the pace that you and Barry set for yourselves, instead of getting heated about failing Ross' Mario Makers for the tenth time in a row.

Which leads you to laugh as you hear your best friend cuss out for the possible hundredth time in the last twenty minutes. Barry looks up from his computer for a second and grins at you before going back to the task at hand. You scoot your chair back from his desk, standing and stretching. Laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, you tell him you’ll return shortly and head into the recording room.

“Fucking dickwad!” Siren lets out a shriek as she dies again, falling into a pit of lava. You try to stifle your laugh but it escapes anyways. Dan and Arin turn to see who was standing there and they both smile at you.

“Hey, Maple.” Arin waves cheerily from one end of the couch. Siren growls a greeting out to you from the center and Dan winks at you from the other end. “What brings you to our humble recording room?”

You laugh, shuffling forward to lean against the back of the couch. “Siren’s cussing.”

“Screw you, M.” She groans as she dies again. She drops the controller into her lap to glare back at you. “Do you think Maddie can help me hide a body even if she’s across the country?”

“You’re not killing Ross.”

“I’m already dead inside.” Ross quips as he walks past the recording room door. Siren gasps and throws the controller at Dan as she stands up and charges out of the room. A minor scuffle can be heard, along with laughter from Barry. Arin glances at the timer and pokes Dan.

“Next time on Grumpcade,” The wild haired man laughs. “Will Siren actually beat this level and is Ross really a human?”

“I thought we already established this,” Arin cracks, nudging his feet against Dan’s legs. “Ross is some sort of otherworldly demon.”

“Guilty!” Ross yells from the other room, a yelp following from most possibly Siren. Barry’s laughter rings out again, followed closely by Kevin’s and Vernon’s.

You laugh as you lean your hip against the couch, watching Dan and Arin finish up the recording. They quickly set up another recording session, bringing out Mario Kart and you find yourself becoming intrigued. Arin glances over at you as Dan grabs the controllers.

“You wanna record with us, Maple?” He asks, smiling. You nod shyly before plopping yourself down where Siren had just been.

“I’m down for watching Dan get slaughtered.” You laugh as the lanky man sits back down next to you. He scoffs and nudges you with his foot as he leans back against the arm of the couch, Wii wheel in hand. You shrug as Arin starts recording as Dan picks out his character and his bike. Arin does the same and Dan picks the Leaf Cup to start their race. Arin laughs as the race starts.

“Welcome back to Grumpca- Dan, you glorious BASTARD! How did you get that blue shell so fucking fast?” Arin groans as he’s forced back into the last few racers, Princess Peach rushing to catch up. You laugh at his already frustrated face. “Anyways, we’re here with Maple! Maple, any words for our lovelies?”

“I just came in here to watch Dan get his ass kicked.” You joke, which gets you another nudge in the thigh from Dan. You glance over to see him pouting at you. You pout right back and reach out to pinch his stubbled cheek. “Aw, does Danny not like that idea?”

“Freaking fight me, Mape.” He sticks his tongue out at you as he knocks your hand away with a distracted hand. “Arin, dude, are you trying to make me look bad?”

“Nah, just giving our special guest what she wanted to see.” He chortles, trying to bump Dan’s Toad off the course. He only succeeds in tipping himself over the edge, yelling as Princess Peach plummets down. You giggle and he glares at you playfully. “You think you can do better, Maple?”

You shrug your shoulders, leaning your head back to smile at him. “I mean, it’s my opinion.”

This gets you some laughs from Dan before a pouting Arin shoves the controller back into your hands as Peach is reappearing on the screen. You fumble for a moment, but you’ve fought Siren enough at Mario Kart. You know how to handle yourself on this game well. Within minutes, you’re in the sixth position and racing towards Dan, who’s in second place.

“Who will win?” Arin whispers as you guys bump into each other, slowly turning into your third lap of the race. You laugh breathlessly as you lean forward, turning the sharp corner to whip a red shell at Dan’s Toad. He cries in outrage as you pass him into the first place, speeding away from him.

“She’s gonna beat you dude.” Arin teases as Dan curses under his breath. You giggle as Dan kicks your ankle gently, trying to distract you from reaching the finish line first. You kick back, letting a red shell fall behind you to hit his character. He yells in surprise, jerking his foot away from you to hunch over his controller.

“GET WRECKED AVIDAN!” You cry as you cross the finish line, your Princess Peach raising its tiny arms in celebration. Arin laughs and high fives you as Dan gets third place and promptly starts pouting.


	4. Duck Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this one is so short! I haven't been able to focus ;-;   
> I promise the next one will be better! Hopefully

“Do you wanna record for Steam Rolled tomorrow with Ross and I?” Siren asks as you guys pull up to the McDonald’s drive-thru to get the Grumps and yourselves some food. You glance over from ordering and she’s texting on her phone, legs curled up in the front seat.

“Sure, why not? Who’s gonna be the fourth person?” You ask, inching the car forward after the man working confirms your order.

“Ross is trying to get Barry to take a break from editing stuff.” She supplied, looking over at you. “He’s been really stressed lately, and Ross thinks he should relax for a bit. And I know for a fact that you do too, love.”

You smile at her softly, “Thank you hun. I think I’ll take you guys up on that offer.”

She grins. “Good! I’ll let Ross know!”

 

* * *

 

 

Later that day, Ross drapes himself over your chair, watching over your shoulder as you carefully edit the audio to his last Steam Train episode with Arin. He eventually pats you on the head and walks off into the recording room. A moment later, you see Siren move out of the corner of your eye and watch as she grabs Barry’s hand and drags her into the recording room. You save your progress and stand up, stretching out any kinks in your back.

“Maple!” Siren yells out, sticking her head back out of the recording room. “Ya comin’ love?”

You laugh, walking over to boop her on the nose, “I was on my way hun.”

She wrinkles her nose at you and smacks you playfully as you both make your way to sit between the two men. Barry sits to your right, a huge smile on his face. You lean forward to look at Ross across Siren’s lap.

“What are we playing?” You ask, kicking your feet up onto Barry’s lap. The bearded man lets out an affectionate huff before patting your legs. You grin at him.

“We,” Ross is saying as he sets up the capture and mics, “Are playing Duck Game.”

You let out a tiny hoot. “I freaking love Duck Game.”

Siren grins cheekily at you, poking you in the side. “We know, bab.”

You stick your tongue out at her as you each set up your duck with its helmet and weapon. You find yourself giggling as the first round starts. You nudge Barry in the stomach, laughing when he jerks out of the way to keep his concentration.

“So,” Ross starts, speaking more to the than the camera, like usual. “How goes the editing, my lovely editors?”

Siren scoffs, glaring at Ross quickly before shooting him off the edge of the ledge into some fire. “Isn’t the whole point of this episode to let them relax from editing?”

“She has a point,” You tease as you fight her and Barry for the win. “You guys did want us to relax. Don’t ask me about work on a play date, Ross.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and pouts at you. You start laughing so hard that Barry gains the upper hand and gets a shot in, winning the first round for himself. He throws his arms up in victory, accidentally bobbing you in the head with his elbow. You let out a fake cry and clutch your head, sticking your tongue out at him.

“I’m so sorry, Mape!” He apologizes, patting your hand where it lays over your head. You grin at him in reply, patting his chest absently as the next round begins.

“Ross, you cock!” Siren cries as Ross shoots her and her duck falls to the ground, dead. You laugh until you die and lean back into the couch to watch your best friend beside you. She’s got her bottom lip stuck out, pouting. You knock elbows with her and her gaze flickers to you, her lips tugging up into a grin.

“Honestly!” Ross groans as Barry wins again. “Barry, do you play this game in your spare time bro?”

He shrugs, tossing a grin over at the other Grump. “Nah, you just suck dude.”

“Rude,” Siren points out, tilting her head back onto Ross’s shoulder. You raise an eyebrow in question, but shake it off. This was a day for relaxation, not for worrying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *random screeches* Comment and Kudos as you please. I'm worried about this chapter ;-;


	5. Caught

After the Steam Rolled episode with Duck Game, you learn to take it easy at times. You make sure that Barry and yourself stay hydrated and take breaks. Siren sometimes comes along to give you guys snacks and give you gentle pats on your head. It was encouraging, especially on your bad days, when nothing seemed to be working.

It was one of those very days today. You spill your coffee on you clothes as you were leaving the apartment, forcing you to go back to change and make both you and Siren late to the office. You somehow lost a key on your laptop’s keyboard and have yet to find it, and the audio from the latest Grump session just wasn’t doing what you wanted it to. With an frustrated huff, you gently close your laptop and stand, intent upon finding your best friend and curling up with her on a sofa for a while.

“Bear,” You murmur, laying a soft hand on his shoulder so you don’t startle him. He glances at you, pausing in what he was doing to pull his headphones off and turn to you. “Do you know where Siren could be?”

He squints, like he’s trying to remember. “I think she was playing a game with Ross for Steam Train today.”

You pat his shoulder, giving him a soft smile. “Thanks, Bear. I’ll be back in a while. I need some chill time.”

He waves you off, pulling his headphones back onto his ears. You smile at the man and make your way over to the recording room to steal Siren.

“Bab, can I steal you?” You ask quietly, knocking twice before pushing the door open. What you find isn’t recording- or at least you really hope not, or else Kevin might be scarred for life.

Your best friend is sitting on Ross O’Donovan’s lap, jerking away from what was most definitely a kiss. You gasp, a hand flying to your mouth as the two of them jump apart, Siren scrambling to stand. You feel horror and terror start to climb up your throat. How could they do this? How could they do this to _Holly_?

“Mape,” your best friend flies forward, her hands reaching for yours. You take in her mussed hair and swollen lips and feel disgust edge its way into your mix of emotions. “Mape, it’s okay. Let me explain.”

You jerk away from her. “Explain why you’re sitting on a married man’s lap and kissing him? Yes, please elaborate.”

She lets out a tiny wounded sound, flinching back. Ross is behind her now, a hand on her back. You find yourself glaring at two of the people you call friends in anger and disbelief. Siren glances at Ross’s face before taking another step back to you, gaining what she’d flinched away from.

“Ross and I are in a relationship.” she starts, rubbing a hand at the base of her throat. You start to exclaim that you know but what about _Holly_ when she holds up a hand to stop you. “I’m also in a relationship with Holly.”

“W-what?” You stutter, not expecting that. But, then it makes more sense. They were in a polygamous relationship. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and feel your shoulders slump. She gently takes your hand and leads you over to the couch, helping you sit down.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you,” she says, cradling your hands in hers. “Believe me, I wanted to as soon as Ross and Holly said yes, but we want to keep it on the down-low just in case things don’t actually work out. That way there’s no drama and no fights and definitely no press. I understand if you’re mad.”

You stare at her, stunned by how open she looks right now. You squeeze her hand tightly. “I’m not mad. I mean, I _was_ but that was only because the first thought that came to my head was that Ross was cheating on Holly. I’m alright now.”

“Thank you,” Ross murmurs from where he’s still standing, his hands shoved into the pockets of his hoodie. You glance over at him and he smiles weakly. “We were going to tell all of you soon, but maybe we should now. It’s been almost three months.”

You look back to Siren, who’s biting her bottom lip as she stares at Ross. You feel uncomfortable, knowing that your interruption was the thing that was spurring Ross on. You shift, pressing a gentle hand to your best friend’s fading blue hair. She turns her gaze to you, eyes a whirl of emotion.

“Don’t let me knowing be the reason you guys tell everyone too early,” you say, gaze flickering to Ross to make sure he understands too. “But, you might want to talk it out with Holly so this doesn’t happen again, with like Dan or Kevin.”

The couple looks at each other, eyes conveying some weird mental conversation before Ross nods and comes over to sit down beside the two of you, curling an arm around Siren’s shoulders. She laughs, her chuckle watery. He smiles down at her and you pull her into a hug.

“I’m really sorry,” you murmur into her hair, hugging her tightly. She sniffs, shaking her head.

“No, you had no idea. We shouldn’t have been doing that here, anyone besides you could’ve walked in. It’s our fault.” She mutters into your shoulder. She pulls away, wiping at her face to smile. “What did you need, by the way? I’m sorry we caused drama when you needed something.”

You pat her head, smoothing a hand over her hair. “I just wanted some cuddles. Today’s been an off day.”

She makes an agreeable noise, leaning back into Ross’s arms and holding hers out for you. “How about we cuddle while Ross makes a fool of himself on Steam Train?”

You let out a weary laugh, “Sounds like a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *flips laptop*


	6. Up Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is where the reader's relationship with Dan starts to develop. *bows* I tried my best.

“M, want me to bring you some dinner later?” Siren asks as she shrugs into her coat, flipping her hair out from beneath the collar. You barely glanced up from the episode that your editing, nodding to her. She laughs, patting on your shoulder. “Well, I’ll most likely be at Holly and Ross’s by the time you leave here so make sure you text me when you get home. Don’t work too hard, love.”

“Love you,” you tell her as she makes her way to the door with her purse. She laughs, calling back a fond “love you too” before the door to the office closes, clicking shut behind her. You roll your shoulders and lean back towards your computer.

With all the drama of Ross and Siren the other day, you hadn’t truly realized just how much your bad days had set you back. You hiss as the sticky note you’d taped to your desk reminds you of just how behind. Pulling your headphones back up onto your ears, you try to get ahead on everything.

It’s moments like these when you realize just how large the Grumps’ office is. Most of the lights are off, excluding the few lamps around your desk area. The dark is almost soothing as you work, laughing your way through the things that everyone had recorded in the past few weeks. Hours go by and you’re about three fourths of a way done when you feel large hands cup over the tops of your shoulders and you jump, pushing your headphones off your ears to spin around and face the intruder.

“Dan!” You cry, slapping at his hands. “You scared the bejeezus out of me!”

He manages to look at least a little guilty, his hands resting on the back of your office chair. “I’m sorry, Mape. I was just wondering what you’re doing here so late.”

“It’s not that la-“ you glance at the clock in the corner of your laptop and gasp. It’s nearly two in the morning. Siren had left around ten-ish. Have you really been working that long? “Oh my Lord.”

“Yeah,” Dan chuckles. “Siren called me a bit ago and told me to come check on you. She said she tried texting you to see what you wanted to eat but you never answered.”

You check your phone, and sure enough there are multiple texts from her, asking what you wanted to eat, if you were still alive, and if she needed to send reinforcement. You laugh, texting to let her know that you hadn’t heard your phone and that you were fine, Dan was there.

“I’m glad she sent you,” you murmur, turning back to start saving your progress on everything. “If she hadn’t, I probably would have worked until I passed out.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he laughed, putting his hands on your shoulders again, thumbs rubbing at the tense muscles at the nape of your neck. “Dude, you’re too tense.”

“You would be too if you were just hunched over a laptop for four consecutive hours.”

“Very true.”

You both just sit- or stand, in his case- there in companionable silence as you finish up what you were doing and put it in the correct spots on both the hard drive and your flash drive. His thumbs swipe up and down your neck, pressing at the muscles there and you feel the tension that had unconsciously been building up start to dissolve beneath his ministrations. You lean your head forward a bit with a tiny sigh.

“Feel better?” He asks as he massages your neck, a smile evident in his tone. You hum in agreement, tilting your head back to grin sleepily at you. He grins back, smile widening. “C’mon. Get your stuff. I’m supposed to take you to get something to eat. Momma Si said so.”

You laugh, closing up your laptop and putting it into its case. “You know she hates that.”

“Nah,” he waves a hand in the air beside himself. “She knows she’s a mom.”

You grab your purse and smack him with your free hand. “Don’t let her hear you call her that. She’ll beat you down dude.”

“I have a ninja to save me.”

“You have a physics professor and she has a marine for an ex-girlfriend.”

“Damn,” he winces, holding the front door open for you to walk through, closing it and locking it behind the two of you. You laugh, digging in your purse for your keys. “How about you come over and I order some take-out?”

“Sure,” he answers, pulling out his own keys. “Wanna meet there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think, and I could even do with some cute date ideas so I can drag this out further into a slow burn fic *prayer hands*


	7. Marathon It

You make it to your apartment first, naturally. You park your car in the apartment garage, making sure it was locked before you head up to your floor. You can’t help but feel excited at the thought of spending time with Dan. You like spending time with the Grumps, any of them. It allows you to get to know them better and it makes you feel more included in things, other than just the new intern.

The last Grump you had over to spend time with was Suzy, and the two of you had stayed up with Siren and just talked for hours. Out of all of the Grumps, you have yet to hang out with Kevin, Dan, and Brian, so to say that you were nervous would be a little bit of an understatement.

You seriously do not want to make a fool of yourself.

Seeing as you made it to your apartment first, you decide to clean up a bit. You quickly tuck yours and Siren’s dishes from this morning into the dishwasher, wiping the kitchen counter down with a quick spritz of cleaner and a rag. Then you fix the blanket hanging over the blue loveseat, plumping the pillows with a few squeezes. You really do not want Dan to have to encounter the mess that is a rushed morning at yours and Siren’s apartment.

You’re grabbing Siren’s hoodie off of the chair to hang it on its normal peg when you hear a knock on the door. You nearly drop the hoodie in surprise before hanging it and opening the door to let Dan in. He grins, holding out a dinner box from McDonald’s. You laugh, moving aside to let him walk in.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he murmurs, stuffing his free hand into his jacket pocket, smiling sheepishly. “It was the only place I could think of that was open at this time.”

You wave a hand at him, laughing. “Nah, it’s okay. I’ll just have some fries. Too much McDonald’s is too much for me.”

He plops down on your couch, toeing his sneakers off to curl his legs up under him. “I can’t relate. Fast food is my life.”

You shuffle into the kitchen, intent on grabbing the hidden carton of Phish Food Ben and Jerry’s that you knew Siren has been hiding from you. You hear him ask you something as you stand on your tiptoes to rifle through the back of your freezer, the cold biting through your tee shirt. You grab the carton, triumphant and return to the flats of your feet.

“What did you say?” You ask as you go to turn, only to walk straight into his chest. He laughs, his hands coming up to steady you by your arms. You shove the carton against his chest and he squeals, pulling away from you quickly. “Don’t you just surprise me like that.”

“Sorry,” he chuckles, running a hand through his hair. You grab a spoon out of a drawer and crack the lid open before tossing it into the garbage. There was no way this ice cream wasn’t going to be gone, with you and Dan around it.

“So, what do you wanna do?” You ask him as you take a bite, talking around the spoon and frozen treat in your mouth. He shrugs, leaning back against your counter, his hands back in his pockets. You tap your chin with the spoon for a moment before pointing it at him. “I have all of the Lord of the Rings. Marathon?”

He straightens quickly. “Hell fucking yeah.”

Laughing, the two of you walk back into the living room. You set the ice cream down on a coaster, the spoon lodged into it. He flops back down onto the couch as you search the shelf that holds yours and Siren’s movies combined. You grab the three movies when you find them and pop the first one in, returning to plop down next to him, crossing your legs.

“Gimme some,” Dan complains around the bite of cheeseburger in his mouth. You giggle, scooping some ice cream onto your spoon and holding it out for him. He swallows what’s in his mouth noisily before he chomps down on the spoon, licking the ice cream away. You blush as he groans, licking his lips. Stealing your spoon back, you settle further back into the couch as Bilbo Baggins starts to speak at his birthday party.

“This is nice,” you hear him murmur after a few moments. You tilt your head to the side to see him smiling down at you, burger in his hand. “I’ve never really hung out with you, and I just think it’s nice so far.”

You smile lazily, letting yourself eat some more ice cream. “I’m glad. I think it’s nice so far too.”

He nudges his arm against yours, scooting closer and folding his long legs over your crossed one. You heave a playful sigh, resting the carton of ice cream on top of his jean-ed legs. He shivers a tiny bit but doesn’t complain like you thought he would have. You lean closer to him and rest your arm against his as both of your gazes float back to the television screen.


	8. You Like Him

You slowly find yourself waking the next morning, still seated on the couch, your neck muscles screaming at the position they’d been in all night. You go to move, but you realize that Dan is on his side, his head pillowed against your thighs. You gape down at him, too scared to move and wake him. When had the two of you fallen asleep last night? It had to have been after the Return of the King, you think. You remember getting up to change the DVDs once, and then everything else is foggy.

“Oh, hey Sleeping Beauty,” a soft voice calls before a tiny hand pats your head. You lean your head back to stare up at Siren. She smiles down at you, a Starbucks cup in her hand. “Did you guys sleep like this all night?”

You groan as Dan shifts, pressing the back of his head against your stomach. Your bladder protests sharply. “Can you help me get him off of me? I really have to go to the bathroom.”

“Sure,” she murmurs, setting her cup down on the coffee table in front of us. Gently, she picks up his head of your thighs, letting you slink your way out from under him to stand. She tucks a pillow under his head before lowering it back down, leaving him to softly snore. You start towards the bathroom, hearing her shuffle behind you as she follows.

“How’s Ross and Holly?” You ask as you close the bathroom door. You hear her lean against the wood, her foot knocking against the floor.

“They’re good,” she answers, pausing to take a sip of her drink you think. “Ross took us out to dinner and then we just went home to chill.”

“You mean to bang,” you tease as you finish up your business and turn the bathroom sink on to wash your hands. She opens the door and leans against the doorframe, her smile a self-fulfilled one.

“I mean, when you put it that way,” she giggles, her hands wrapped around her cup. “Holly and I are going to lunch in a few, do you want to come with?”

You stare at her for a second before grabbing the towel to dry your hands. “We slept in until noon.”

“Actually, it’s two in the afternoon. We had a late start to the day too.”

“Of course you did.”

She laughs as she trails after you, following you back to the living room. Dan has somehow managed to curl himself into a ball on your tiny loveseat, his arm over his eyes and one leg hanging off the edge. You lean over the back of the couch and jostle his shoulder gently.

“Dan,” you say, shaking a little harder. “Wake up, you toothpick.”

He moans in his sleep, turning further away from you until he’s dumping himself onto the floor with a loud yelp. You find yourself laughing along with Siren as he sits up in a confused panic, hair wild around him. He squints up at the two of you in confusion, before scrubbing a hand over his jaw. The slight scraping sound his stubble makes has you shivering before you can stop yourself and Siren nudges you, her expression suggestive.

You clear your throat, turning your attention back to Dan. “Siren and I are heading out to lunch with Holly. We’ve gotta kick you out dude.”

Yawning, he nods and stands, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, I should head home anyways. Barry probably wonders where I got off to.”

He shuffles around, pulling on his sneakers and then his jacket. Siren stands by the door, sipping her drink, eyes locked on the two of you. He reaches towards you once he’s finished getting ready, hesitates, and then shrugs before pulling you into a hug.

“It was fun, Mape.” He ruffles your hair, smirking. “I’ll see you guys later.”

With that, he’s out of your apartment and you’re left alone with you best friend, whose face tells you that she’s got something on her mind. You tilt your head at her.

“All right, what is it?”

“You like him,” she states simply, folding an arm around her midsection. You start to protest before she holds up a finger. “I might be wrong, but that’s what your expression just conveyed right now. I’ll just leave it at that.”

You huff out an embarrassed sigh before turning to go get dressed to start your day.


	9. Reciprocate?

You don’t see Dan until the next day at work, when he walks in with a box of doughnuts. Everyone goes crazy and you laugh from your desk as they crowd the lanky man like vultures in order to get some fuel. You hitch your headphones back up onto your ears, shaking your head at your coworkers as you go back to the editing that needs to be done.

A few moments later, a warm hand is set on the top of you back and a cup of Starbucks is set down beside you. You glance up to find Dan grinning down at you, his face so bright with happiness. You can’t help but smile in return, pulling one earphone off.

“Good morning,” he murmurs, his hand running over your neck before settling in your hair. “How’d you sleep?”

You find yourself blushing at him. “I slept okay. How about you?”

He pulls a chair up to your desk before plopping down into it, his foot bumping your calf as he crosses one leg over the other. “Like a frigging baby.”

You grin, fixing a bit of audio that plays wrong on the screen. Dan leans forward, folding his arms over the edge of your desk and laying his head down on them. There is a few moments of silence before you nudge him gently with your elbow.

“Thought you slept like a baby,” you tease, watching him roll his head to stare up at you. He smiles, face half hidden by his folded arms.

“I did,” he laughs. “I’m just enjoying your presence.”

You look back to your editing, face red once more. Out of nervousness, you grab the cup he set down for you and sip it carefully. Hot chocolate floods over your tongue and you sigh with how good it tastes. He leans his head against your arm and you nearly choke on the liquid in surprise.

“Thank you,” you manage as he smiles at you.

“You’re welcome,” he says, grinning even more. How does someone smile that big? You hear Arin call his name from within the recording room and with a wink, he spins the chair away from you and make his way to the room, pushing his legs to gain momentum. There is a crash from the other room, followed by laughter and you feel yourself grin.

Siren leans into your workspace before you can return to your work, stealing a sip of your drink with a grin. You raise an eyebrow at her.

“He was flirting with you,” she states, setting the cup down and running her finger over the lip absently. You scoff.

“He was not.”

Barry leans forward in his chair to stick his head into the conversation. “Mape, I’ve known that man for a long time, and that was quite possibly the worst flirting I’ve seen him do in a long time.”

You stare at your fellow editor as he leans back in his seat, a sly grin on his face. “Okay, and your point is?”

Barry laughs, his eyes shining bright. “I do believe he likes you, Miss Maple.”


	10. Kiss Me

“Another late night?” Siren asks as she grabs her purse from her desk. You barely look up from your work to nod at her. Barry has agreed to stay with you this time and makes a tiny noise of agreement over the sound of Dan and Arin’s laughter coming out of his headphones. She comes around to press a kiss to the top of your head and you can hear Dan cough from the other side of the room, where he’s sitting with Ross and Arin.

“Momma Si,” he chuckles. You can hear the wide grin in his voice even though you don’t look up. “Do I get kisses too?”

“No, but now you get to check on our two favorite editors later tonight and bring them food,” she told him, the tone of her voice smug. You glance over at him and he’s got his legs folded up underneath him on the couch, a feigned look of disgust and horror on his face, amusement peeking out.

Ross laughs at Dan, looking up from his phone to flip him the bird. You try to stifle your laughter behind your hand but Dan hears you anyways and he throws himself from the couch to lean his head on your thigh dramatically.

“Oh, sweet love,” he bemoans. “Why are you so harsh to me?”

You can feel your face heating up and you bounce your leg, prompting him to raise his head. He does, but remains on his knees, pouting up at you with wide eyes. Laughter floods the room around you but you find yourself just staring down at the man in front of you.

“Get up, you big nerd.” Barry chuckles from his desk, dragging your attention away from Dan. Face burning, you go back to your editing.

 

* * *

 

 

“Coffee break!” Dan screams as he smacks the front door to the Grump office open, making you jerk in fright and surprise. Barry glares at the man as he nearly spills his open water bottle over his keyboard.

“You’re an ass,” You supply for Barry, who’s cussing as he tries to find the cap to the water bottle to avoid disaster. Dan just laughs, setting two coffees down on the edge of your desk. You ignore him in favor of adding the finishing touches to the audio your working on at that moment.

“Barry, am I an ass?” He pouts, plopping down into a nearby chair and rolling over to the bearded man. He lays his head on Barry’s shoulder, fluttering his eyelashes at him until he chuckles.

“No, but you are a giant idiot.” Barry says, screwing the cap onto his water bottle. “What’d you bring me?”

“Your usual,” Dan tells him, reaching over to grab one coffee and hand it to him. You take the remaining coffee and set it beside your keyboard as you save your progress, before standing.

“I’ll be back,” you tell the two guys, heading towards the bathroom. You close the door behind you and lean against it for a second. Being near Dan lately has made you wonder more and more if you actually do have a crush on him. You slide down the door to seat yourself on the floor, holding your head in your hands. You’ve never been faced with this before, so your thoughts can only supply one answer.

Call Siren.

You pull your phone out of the front pocket of your jeans, hands trembling slightly. You type in her number and you’re about to press the send button when you realize that it’s nearly four in the morning, and Siren would most likely be sleeping, either at your apartment or over at Ross’s and Holly’s house. You slowly delete the number, deciding to not disturb her. Your brain moves on to the next acceptable answer.

Google it.

You open your internet browser, opening a new tab to type _how do i know i have a crush_. The first results are wikiHows and you wince at the art as you skim through the websites reasoning. The next result in line is a test, and you cringe at yourself as you click it.

“Do you think about him all the time?” You mutter under your breath, as if asking someone else. You click on the ‘sort of’ option and move on, nearly laughing at the rest of the questions. Finishing all the questions as honestly as you can, you click submit and close your eyes tight while you wait. You count to ten and slowly open them back up to stare down at your results.

_For 60% you are WAY into him! You’ve got a crush!_

Closing out of the tab, you lock your phone and lean your head back against the door. The test had a lot of valid questions, if you were being completely honest. You do think about him a lot, and you find your gaze drifting to him every time you all are in room together. You’re even sure there have been cases of slight butterflies in your stomach.

Should you tell him though?

Barry had said that he likes you, but that’s from someone, not Dan himself. But, then again, why would the man’s best friend of all things lie to you about feelings?

You pull yourself off the ground and open the door, peering out. Dan is gone, Barry alone at his desk. You make your way over to the bearded man and tap him on his shoulder. He grins, lowering his headphones.

“What’s up, Mape?”

“Where’s Dan?” You ask, rubbing the back of your neck nervously. You were going to do this.

“Oh, he just went out to his car. If you hurry, you can catch him.”

You’re out the door before he can even actually finish the sentence, rushing out into the cold rain that had been drizzling all night.

“Dan!” You yell, rushing to the man, hair matted to your head and sticking to your cheeks. He turns to stare at you, keys in hand.

“What are doing out here, Mape? You’re gonna catch a cold and then Momma Si is gonna kill me.”

“I like you!” You blurt, skidding to a stop in front of him. You squint through the rain to look up at his face, his expression one of surprise. “And I don’t know how you feel, but I just wanted to tell you before it drives me _insane_.”

There’s a pause of silence as the two of you stand there, rain pounding down onto your head and shoulders, the cold sliding into your body to ache under your skin. You stare up at him nervously, biting your lip. Hesitantly, his hand comes up to swipe a few rain drenched locks out of your face, his eyes locked on yours.

“Maple, can I kiss you?” He whispers, his other hands coming up to rest on your waist. You nod quickly, reaching up to place your hands on his shoulders. He grins and laughs breathlessly before leaning in.

His lips are wet and cold, but you can’t bring yourself to care because the butterflies in your stomach threaten to rise up and choke you as his arms wrap tight around you, hauling you closer to his body. You have to rise up on your tiptoes to stay connected, sliding a hand into his wet, unruly hair. His warm hand comes up to cup your jaw, thumb swiping over your cheek gently. His other hand is warm on your waist, tight around the curve of your hip. You pull away to gasp, pressing your forehead to his.

“You’re shaking,” he murmurs, nudging his nose against yours. You open your mouth to deny it but your teeth clack together unexpectedly and you wince when you realize how cold you really are. “You should really head back inside before you get sick. Suzy keeps extra clothes in the closet just for things like this.”

He opens his car door and you feel your stomach sinking. Does this mean-

“Oh,” he turns back to you and smiles. “I like you too, Maple. Don’t worry your pretty little head. I’ve just gotta head back to Arin and Suzy’s. C’mere.”

You inch forward until he gently grips your wrist and pulls you into another kiss. “I’ll take you out to dinner tomorrow, if you’d like.”

You nod dumbly, your mind shrieking at the idea. You’d have to find something cute to wear, and have Siren do your eyeliner, and quite possibly die a little inside. He presses a cool kiss to your cheek before pushing you towards the building behind you. “Head inside, love. Don’t want you to catch a cold.”

You nod again, turning to head back into the office. Once inside, you close the door slowly behind you and lean against it, your clothes dripping onto the floor. Barry smirks at you from his desk, pointing to a pile of clothes and a towel he’d placed on a nearby chair. You grin and thank him, grabbing the things and making your way to the bathroom again.

“I told you so!” Barry laughs as you close the door behind yourself.


	11. Good Morning

“Describe it to me again!” Siren giggles as she sat upside down on the couch, feet up over the back, head hanging towards the floor. You come out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, toothpaste frothing at your mouth.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting dressed for work?” You lisp through the mess in your mouth, staring at her. She lifts her head to giggle again before righting herself.

“I am ready,” she insists, zipping the hoodie on her frame. It’s a bit small and a bright pink and you smirk at her. She blushes. “Oh, shut up. Tell me about your kiss with Danny again.”

You shake your head, disappearing into the bathroom to spit, before popping back out. “Negative, Captain. You don’t share the deets of your relationship.”

“Okay,” she leans her chin against the back of the couch as you start brushing again. “Do you wanna hear about Ross’s huge dick, or the fact that Holly’s tong-”

“Oh my god, please shut up!” You garble loudly, spit flying. She laughs, tossing herself back onto the couch. “I will pay you never to say anything like that ever again.”

Her only reply is a loud giggle before you go back into the bathroom.

 

* * *

 

 

You make it to work before Dan and Barry, so you decide to start working on stuff before Dan comes in to distract you. Siren leans her hip against your desk, petting your hair as you pull up some videos to start going over. She stands there with you for a while until Ross whistles and nods his head towards the recording room.

“Wanna come record some Steam Train with me, Si?” He asks, hands in his jeans pockets, smirk on his face. You glance at your friend and shudder to think what might actually be going on in that room, other than recording. She pats your head once last time before heading off with him. You shake your head and laugh softly. You pull your headphones tight over your ears and begin to work.

You didn’t even notice that Dan and Barry had arrived until a pumpkin spice latte was set down next to your wrist, the smell wafting over you. You glance at it as a warm hand rubs over your shoulder and soft lips press a quick kiss to your temple. You tilt your head back to see Dan grinning down at you, his eyes bright.

“Good morning,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing over the base of your neck. “I was wondering if you’re still up for dinner tonight?”

“Sure,” you breathe, knowing your face was red. He goes to move away, but you grip his wrist, tugging him back. “Dan, are we dating now?”

“Dan! Let’s go watch Siren beat Ross’s ass at Happy Wheels!” Arin calls from the doorway of the recording room, making the two of you pause. Dan glances his way before leaning down to press a kiss to your forehead.

“We can talk about that tonight if you’d like, love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was really short, but the next one's probably gonna be hecka long, so it's okay!!   
> Comment and Kudos as you please~ ^.^


	12. Preparation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's goooooooo~ *puts on sunglasses* *drives my car into the sun*

“What time is he picking you up?” Holly asks from where she’s perched on your bed, her legs crossed beneath her. Siren is picking through your closet, tossing certain clothes towards the bed and muttering to herself. You wince as a black heel nearly hits Holly in the face. “Babe!”

Siren peeks back, seeing Holly holding the shoe and immediately winces. “I’m so sorry baby girl.”

The pink haired girl shakes her head fondly. “Be more careful, you nerd.”

She giggles nervously before turning to you, hands on her hips. “Okay, Mape. Where’s he taking you?”

You sit down on the edge of the bed, and cross your arms over your chest. “I don’t even know. He just told me not to wear jeans and be ready by nine.”

Siren holds up a finger before she ducks back into the closet, grabbing a few articles of clothing. She throws them on the bed and begins to sort through it until all that’s left lying on the bed and not on the floor is a high-waisted black pants with buttons on the side, and a nice pale pink button up blouse with billowed shoulders.

“Get dressed,” she pats you on the butt as she goes over to your jewelry display on your dresser. “Then I’ll do you makeup and hair.”

With a tiny sigh, you start to undress, ready to become Siren’s Barbie doll.

 

* * *

 

 

“Now, keep your eyes closed and I’ll finish up your eyeliner,” Siren murmurs, her breath warm across your nose. You grimace at the smell of pop and bubblegum and she smacks your shoulder lightly. “I know my breath smells, but hold still. I’ll be out of your face in a few minutes.”

You huff out a sigh, relaxing your face as she swipes the wet brush of eyeliner across your eyelid, winging it out onto the edge of your temple. After fussing with the product for a few moments, she turns to the next eye, hopefully- God, you really hope you look alright- making it look identical. You keep your eyelids as relaxed as you can as she fans them with her hand. There are fumbling noises as she goes through her makeup with her other hand, clinking plastic containers together until she hums with triumph.

“Okay, the eyeliner should be dry, but keep your eyes closed until I say you can open them.” She instructs, hands retracted only to come back a moment later, palm warm on your chin. “Can I put some glitter on your cheekbones, Mape? This gold would really compliment your outfit and hair.”

You shrug in response, smirking. “I’m just the Barbie doll, Si.”

She whacks you on the chin gently, giggling. “A very gorgeous Barbie doll. Now hold still please.”

There is a comfortable silence as she grips your chin in her hand, a cool brush glazing over both of your cheekbones, dusting your nose. She tilts your head this way and that as she appraises you before her hand retreat and she claps, startling you a bit.

“You’re done!” She cries, grabbing your hand. “Don’t open your eyes yet though. I want to put you in front of the mirror.”

She drags you over to where you know your mirror is, and adjusts the direction you’re standing before stepping back.

“Open your eyes, love.”

You do and stare at the person in the mirror. Normally, you don’t care what you look like when you’re getting dressed. Jeans, hoodies, sneakers. Those are normal everyday wear.

You knew what clothes and shoes she’d handed you. The pale pink blouse gently floats over your curves, the sleeves billowing around your shoulders. There are a few creases as the shirt is tucked into your black pants, but you can live with that. She’d made you put on a simple gold chain with a feather, and had you put on your best black flats. But, it’s the hair and make-up that has you staring.

She’d had you close your eyes as she’d curled your hair and you gently run a few fingers over the curls laying perfect over your shoulders, curling around your forehead. Your eyes are lined with black, the cat eyes perfect with the creamy gold eye shadow she’d put on you. Gold glitter is scattered across your face, making your eyes sparkle as you tilt your head just so. You smile, your rose lipstick uncracking with the gloss.

“Thank you,” you murmur, folding your hands over your chest. You turn to tug her into a hug, careful of everything. “Thank you.”

She pats you on the back, giggling. “You’re welcome hun. I wasn’t about to let you just go out in a hoodie and some sneakers.”

There’s a slight tap on the door and you glance over to see Holly smiling broadly at the two of you. “Dan’s here. I let him in the living room.” She comes into the room, and softly closes the door behind her before turning to you. “He brought roses.”

“He brought roses?” You can feel the color rising in your cheeks and you go to press your palms into your eyes but Siren grabs your hands and squeals. You stare at her dumbly, before looking back at Holly. “What’s he wearing?”

Holly smirks, “Oh honey, you’ll just have to go see for yourself.”

You feel your stomach fill with butterflies as you grab your purse and slide the strap onto your shoulder carefully. You glance back at Siren, and she just grins, patting you on the butt as she walks past you to go out into the living.

“Wow, Dan, you look really nice!” You can hear her crow and you facepalm. Subtle, that one, you think to yourself. Holly giggles next to you before she leaves to, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You turn back to the mirror and smile softly.

If he liked how you looked normally, hopefully this would blow him away.

You take a deep breath before you finally leave the room, making your way to the living room where you can hear the three of them chatting. You keep your eyes glued to the ground as you walk in, biting your lower lip. Dan’s voice stops and you look up.

He’s standing by the door, red and pink roses wrapped up in a bouquet in his hand. He’s got on a nice blue dress shirt, with a black tie around his neck. Black slacks run down his legs and you notice that he’s tied his hair back. You smile at him, stepping forward. He grins.

“Shall we?”


	13. The Date

“Where are we going?” You ask him as he gently leads you to the car, a soft hand on your back. You’d left the roses back at the house and Siren had promised to put them into a vase. He holds your door open for you and you climb in, buckling up as he rounds the car to get in the driver’s seat. “Dan?”

“It’s a surprise,” he smiles, leaning over to kiss your cheek. You glare playfully, your smile giving you away as he starts the car to pull out of your apartment’s parking lot. “Out of curiosity, how late do you want to stay out tonight?”

“Ahm,” you shrug. “I don’t think it matters. I’ve got my key and Siren knows not to hit me with the bat if I’m home late and she hears the key.”

He looks alarmed for a second, glancing over at you. “She has a bat?”

“Yeah,” you laugh, leaning back in your seat to smile over at him as he drives. “You thought in an apartment of only two girls, one of us wouldn’t have a weapon for self-defense?”

“I mean, I figured she’d have a gun or like a taser.” He justifies himself, raising a hand from the steering wheel to gesture wildly. “Not a freakin’ bat. Has she ever used it?”

You wince, remembering the one night you didn’t remember to text her that you were leaving the office late. “Yeah. I forgot to text her that I was on my way home and she wound up cracking me across the kneecaps.”

“Oh my god!” He exclaims, glancing back over in horror. “Remind me to never sneak into your apartment ever.”

“No promises,” you giggle, curving one leg under the other as you laugh. He gives you a desperate look, his bottom lip out in a pout. You shake a hand at him. “Ah-ah, no puppy dog eyes from you Mister. You either have to remember or learn the hard way.”

“Cold,” he scowls playfully, reaching over to tug on a curl. You swat his hand away, laughing. You’d been so unsure if this date would change the way that the two of you would act around each other. But, so far, nothing was different. He was still flirty, funny, dorky Dan and you were still flustered you.

You watch him as he drives in silence, leaning your head against the back of the seat, your head tilted to the side. He’d glance at you every so often, offering you a grin or a kissy face. The night surrounding the car only seems to better show how handsome he is, the light of the dashboard bouncing off of his face to show off his face’s dip and planes.

“Will you tell me when we’re getting closer?” You ask him softly, seeing the stretch of road in front of the two of you. You’d started out on highway, and you had no idea how you’d reached such a deserted looking street, basically a dirt road between an unkempt field and a field full of tractors. He doesn’t respond, but pulls the car over to the edge of the road and unbuckles. “Dan?”

“Let’s go,” he grins, reaching in the back to grab what looks like a large cooler. “It’s part of your surprise.”

You unbuckle and get out, waiting for him to round the car to take your arm. He takes your hand and tugs you towards the field with the tractors, and you resist for a moment. He turns back, his face falling.

“Are you alright?” He asks, stepping closer. You nod, pushing your hair back behind your ear.

“Yeah, yeah,” you murmur to him, looking at your shoes. “I just don’t want to trespass.”

He stares at you for a second before he smirks, leaning down to kiss your forehead. “Well, then you’ll be happy to know, my love, that this is to become a public park. So, it’s not trespassing.”

You smack his shoulder. “If we get caught, you kidnapped me.”

He lays his hand against his forehead as you scowl at him. “I couldn’t help myself, Officer. She’s just too gorgeous.”

You can feel yourself blush at his comment and you look away in embarrassment. You start over to the field, smirking as he jogs to catch up, giggling. He throws an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his body heat. You go willingly as you guys make your way through the field, the cooler making odd bumping noises. Eventually, he pulls you both to a stop and sets the cooler down. Popping the top open, he pulls out a large blanket and hands it to you.

“Will you set that down, love?”

You nod, unfolding it to splay it out across the cool night grass. You sit down, crossing your legs as he continues to rummage around in the cooler. He sets+ things down as he goes; a bottle of wine, two plastic cups- you wound up giggling so hard, he stopped to flip you off- what you think is a tub of ice cream, a couple spoons in a plastic Ziploc bag. He sets all of this down in front of you and smiles as he sits across from you.

“This is it,” he tells you, his eyes sparkling as he grins at you. “This is your surprise.”

You stare at him, this tall, wonderful, handsome man sitting across from you under the stars. “You took me out to dinner under the _stars_?” You breathe, watching as he pours you each a glass of the wine. He nods, smiling widely.

“Siren told me you liked stars and Barry suggested I take you out to dinner, so I sort of decided to smoosh the two together.” He extends a cup towards you and you accept it from him, mouth agape. He smiles, taking a small sip of his own wine.

“Dan,” you smile at him. “This is the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you.”

He ducks his head, grinning. “I’m so glad to hear it.”


	14. Home for the Holidays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there guys! So, this might be the last chapter for a while! I'm out of school for the holidays, and I don't have WiFi ;-; BUT! I shall be writing all new chapters hopefully, so get ready to be bombarded when the new semester begins!

“Do you know how much I miss Tim Hortons?” Siren asks as she stomps up to the entrance of the office building. You nod along with her, kicking your shoes off before you push the door open, your homemade coffee in your hand. “I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but I miss snow.”

“I can relate,” you say as you strip off your coat, throwing it down on the nearby couch. Arin glances up at the both of you from his computer.

“The fuck is Tim Hortons?” He asks, his tone stuck between serious and joking. You stare at him for a moment before putting a hand on your hip.

“Are you being serious?” You ask, watching Siren plop down in your chair, spinning it slightly before stopping herself. “Do you really not know what Tim Hortons is?”

“As serious as a heart attack,” Arin says, shrugging his shoulder. “I don’t know what it is.”

You and Siren share a look of disbelief before you turn back to your friend. “Tim Hortons is a company chain up in New York that sells like, coffee and hot chocolate and doughnuts.”

Siren moans, rolling her head into her hands. “I miss their hot chocolate.”

“Who’s hot chocolate?” Ross asks as he comes in with Barry, two coffees in hand. He sets one down in front of Siren and she glares at it from behind her fingers. Barry glances at you as he sits down at his desk and your shrug at him.

“Tim Hortons,” Siren mutters angrily. Ross laughs, but cuts off after Siren glares at him. You nudge her arm with your hip and she stands up from your chair, hands still over her face. You sit down, booting your computer up.

“Tim Hortons is the shit,” Barry says as he leans back in his chair. “Every time I’m in New York, I try to find some.”

Siren groans and presses her forehead into the back of your neck, her nose cold from the running AC. You laugh at her, patting what you think is the top of her head.

“I’ll buy us a shit ton when we go back home for Christmas,” you offer, digging around in your jeans pocket for your flash drive. She perks up, draping her arms over your shoulders, praising the idea. You pat her forearm distractedly, laughing. “The first thing we’ll do before we head to our respective homes is buy Tim’s.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she laughs, before Ross drags her off to record.

 

* * *

 

 

Later that day, after work is done and you and Siren are relaxing in your living room, she turns to you. “Are you thinking about taking Dan with you when we go home?”

You stop chewing on the bite of sandwich in your mouth, looking over at her. “Are you taking Ross and Holly?”

She shakes her head, faded blue hair quivering. “I’m not sure my stepfather would understand that I’m in a relationship with a woman, let alone a married couple.”

You nod, slouching back on the couch, feeling the cushion envelope you slightly. “I might ask him, but I don’t know if my parents would be too thrilled either to be honest.”

There is a nod of her head and the two of you sit there in silence as you stare at the cartoons dashing across your television screen.


	15. Back in His Arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO'S BACK BITCHES  
> DIDJA MISS ME
> 
> Okay, so a few notes, please ack  
> By now, the reader has been with Dan for about maybe a year? I wanted the girls to have moved and started with the Grumps around June, but then again maybe not??? I’m sorry for not putting a time stamp on any of these ;-;  
> Tiny time skip past Christmas so I don’t have to write awkward family life

“I missed you!”

You laugh loudly as Dan practically trips over himself to curl his arms around your body. He pulls you in close, tucking your head under his chin. You can feel people staring at the two of you as you stand in front of the tea shop. You probably look quite the pair, curled into one another the way you are. But, you don’t care. You cuddle into him further, nuzzling your nose into the warmth of his neck.

“How was the flight back?” He asks you, pressing a kiss to the top of your head, mussing the beanie over your hair. You pull away to let him lead you into the shop, his hand gathering yours up. You shrug, pushing the door open as the two of you walk inside.

“It was okay,” you murmur, leaning your shoulder into his side. “Siren napped for most of it, so I was left to like, dig into the depths of Tumblr.”

Dan shudders in fake pain. “Oh, the horror.”

You laugh as the two of you join the line to the counter, tipping your face up to grin at him. “Truly. I barely survived.”

He guffaws, leaning down to kiss you on the corner of your mouth. “I missed you, Mape. A lot.”

You feel your cheeks heat up a little as he places the two of yours’ orders. The barista makes your drinks as you stand there, leaning your forehead against his bicep. He strokes a soft hand up and down your back until the barista hands you your drinks and the two of you go to find a place to sit.

“I missed you too,” you murmur as he pulls your seat out for you. You sit down, setting your tea cup down in front of you on the table. He smiles as he takes his seat across from you, blowing on his tea. You close your eyes as you take a sip of your tea and the taste of mint rolls over your tongue, making you hum in contentment. You open your eyes to see him watching you over the rim of his own cup.

“I love you,” he says, as if it’s the easiest thing he’s ever said; as if he’s just breathing it out. You nearly choke on your tea as you struggle to swallow, setting your cup down. You can see his fingers fidgeting over this cup, blunt fingertips tapping on the ceramic. He’s nervous and you find yourself smiling at him, happiness washing over you.

“I love you too, Dan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short, but dear God, don't kill me


	16. Take Me to Snurch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally wrote this running on maybe two hours of sleep.

“Take me to snurch, I worship like a snail in the sha-”

“What the actual _fuck_ , Siren?” Barry laughs as your best friend slurs the parody on the couch in the Grump space, her blue hair faded and splayed over the cushions. She giggles in reply, her hand coming up to comb through Ross’s hair where his head lays on her stomach. Over the break you and Siren had taken to go visit home, Ross and Holly had told the Grumps about their relationship with her, and everyone had been really supporting. You couldn’t be happier, to be honest.

“She hasn’t slept yet,” you supply, nudging the nearly empty Monster can that’s sitting beside your coffee on your desk. “She’s trying to fix her sleep schedule.”

“How’s that going for you, Si?” Suzy giggles, glancing over at the blue haired wonder. Your best friend giggles again, her head lolling over to smile at Suzy.

“’S going great!” She answers enthusiastically, her face glowing, even though her eyes bear the burden of dark bags. Ross laughs against her stomach and you find yourself laughing too, despite yourself. “I think I’ve surpassed that of tired and entered the weirdly energized phase.”

“Just don’t start shaking your legs,” Ross groans, winding an arm around her waist. You glance over at the two of them with a fond smile as you work on editing another video. You catch the moment Dan decides to leave the recording room, his arms stretching high above him, shirt lifting a bit to show a strip of tanned skin. You look back at your work, face hot.

“Hello, babe,” he smiles, coming over to your desk to kiss you on the cheek. You grin back, leaning up to steal a kiss from his lips. You can vaguely hear Siren coo at you guys and your face heats up even more. Dan pulls away with a huge grin, his large hand coming up to cup your cheek, his thumb brushing over your warm skin. “Are you ready for our date tonight?”

You nod dumbly, leaning your forehead against his. You answer breathlessly, watching him nod and walk away from you.

“That was the cutest thing I’ve seen,” Siren coos softly, carding a hand through Ross’s hair again. You think your face might actually be on fire when you catch the wink she sends to you. “Where’s he taking you for your date tonight?”

You shrug, turning back to your computer for a distraction. “Nowhere. We’re just going to get take out and stay at his house.”

There’s a loud thud on the floor and then Siren’s arms are around your neck. She cackles wildly and you wonder if you should’ve just let her have a fucked-up sleep schedule.

Yes, yes you should have, you decided as she leans in really close to whisper, “Are you gonna ask him to do the do like we talked about this morning in the car?”

You smack her away, pushing her face away with the palm of your hand. “Siren, I swear to God-”

She backs away, her hands up in the air in surrender. “Okay, okay!”

She plops back down on the couch and Ross climbs back into her lap from where she had presumably dumped him onto the floor in her haste to get to you. You roll your eyes in exasperation and turn back to your computer.

That’s the last time you buy Siren three Monsters _and_ give her vital information early in the morning.


	17. Take On Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Christ, where did my motivation go?  
> *looks over at the small pile of Yuri on Ice fanfictions I have yet to post*  
> Oh, yeah

“I’m heading over to Dan’s.” You yell to Siren as you put your shoes on next to the door of your apartment. You hear a sleepy affirmation from her bedroom and you roll your eyes. That girl was a hopeless case, when it came to sleep schedules. You slip your arms into your light jacket and grab your purse, locking the door up behind you. Knowing Siren, she probably wouldn’t be getting out of bed anytime soon.

On your way to Dan’s house, you find yourself humming along to Siren’s playlist that she’d burned for your phone. Ninja Sexx Party’s cover of Take on Me comes on and you blush, tapping your fingers against the steering wheel in time with the music.

This was it.

This was the night you asked Dan to make love to you.

You can feel the butterflies starting to stir in your stomach, and you flick your turning signal on as you edge your way into the turning lane. You’d thought long enough about it while you were away from him for the holidays, and after multiple conversations with your best friends, you decided you were finally going to ask. 

Reaching Dan and Barry’s house, you pull into the parking space, shutting off the engine to shove your keys into your purse. Taking a deep breath, you look into your rearview mirror at yourself. Your cheeks are red, and your hair is still a little frizzy from your evening shower earlier. But, your eyeliner looks awesome and you know that Dan likes the white blouse you’re wearing under your jacket. With another deep breath, you step out of the car, slam the door shut behind you, and make your way up to the front door.

You don’t even get the chance to knock before the door is wrenched open, Dan standing on the other side with a wide grin on his face. You find yourself smiling in return.

“Hey,” he breathes out, reaching out to pull you into the house. You lean up into his kiss, nuzzling your nose against his when the two of you part. “What do you want for dinner?”

You let him help you out of your jacket and watch as he hangs it beside his on the coat rack near the door. “Anything, really. Whatever you’re in the mood for.”

He leans down to peck you on the lips again, and you clutch his shirt in your hands for balance as you slip out of your shoes. He laughs when the two of you nearly topple over, his hand cupping your hip to steady you.

“Careful, love.” He jokes, rubbing his thumb over your hipbone under your shirt. “I don’t wanna have to drive you to the E.R. on date night.”

You laugh, smacking his hand away. “More like me driving you to the E.R. on date night. Have you seen how clumsy you are?”

He pulls out his phone to type in a number. “I resent that.”

You plop down on the couch, tossing your hair over your shoulder as you watch him put his phone up to his ear. “You should.”

You watch him as he orders a pizza from Little Caesar’s and rise up on your knees to throw in that you want crazy bread. He rolls his eyes at you, adding that to the order before hanging up and joining you on the couch.

“What do you wanna do while we wait for the pizza?” He asks, leaning his head against your shoulder. You can feel his hot breath on your neck and you shiver a bit. You wring your hands in your lap, biting your lip.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

He jerks upright, his eyes wide as he stares down at you. “Oh, dear Lord, please don’t tell me we’re breaking up.”

You feel yourself flush and you shake your head. “Oh, my God, Dan no, it’s not that at all.”

He visibly relaxes against the couch cushions, his head tipping to rest on the arm. “Thank God, I don’t know what I would’ve done with the ring.”

You feel cold slid down your spine and the butterflies are back, rising into your throat. You can barely breathe, let alone talk. “R-ring?”

He jerks back upright, smacking his forehead with his palm. “I’m an idiot.”

“No, you’re not,” you croon softly, reaching forward to wrap your fingers around his wrist. You can still feel the butterflies fluttering around in your stomach, but you push them down to pull him closer. “What did you mean, though?”

He sighs, pressing a kiss to your fingers before he extracts himself from you, standing from the couch. “I’ll be right back.”

You watch as he disappeared down a hallway, leaving you alone in the living room. You pull your knees up to your chest, trying not to panic. He could just mean like, a normal ring, or even a promise ring. You find yourself absently rubbing at the skin on your left ring finger, eyes lingering on the empty hallway he’d gone down. A ring from your significant other didn’t always mean marriage.

He reappears in the corner of your eyes and you look over at him, biting your lip. He smiles tenderly, shuffling closer to you. In his hand is a small black box and you can feel the panic starting to well in your throat again. Maybe it wasn’t panic, per se, but maybe anticipation? Whatever it was has you shivering as he stops in front of you and drops to one knee in front of you.

You gasp, “Dan, oh my God.”

“Maple,” Dan smiles up at you, his hair tousled around his face. You cup a hand over your mouth as the tears start to flow, hiccups rising in your throat as he opens the little box and presents it to you. Inside is a ring; the band small and silver, with a small diamond centered upon it. You can feel your heart racing in your chest as he clears his throat. “This isn’t exactly how I wanted to propose tonight, but I sort of outed myself here, so here goes. Being with you has been the most wonderful time of my life. Sure, we’ve only been together for a year, but I think that’s long enough. Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

You nod, your voice choked with tears when you answer. “Yes, Dan. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He beams, taking the ring out of the box to slowly slide it onto your hand. You shift your hand back and forth to watch the light play over the bright gem and silver. He sits down next to you on the couch, an arm winding around your waist. You lean into him, hiccupping a bit as he wipes away your tears.

“What was it that you wanted to ask, love?” He asks softly, his face buried in your hair. “I’m sorry for creating drama when you needed to talk.”

You flush a bit, your gaze skittering away from his as you bite your lip. “Ah, well, I wanted- I wanted to know ifyouwouldmakelovetome?”

You cover your face with your hands, peering out at him from between your hands. He stares at you for a second before his face slips into an expression of arousal and his lips pull up into a smirk. He scoots closer to you, pulling you into his lap and making you gasp when he leans up to lick his way into your mouth.

“I think I can manage that, Mape.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaand it’s finished!!! There you go, my love! I hope that ending wasn’t too much of a rushed pile of poo! ^.^;;;
> 
> Comment and Kudos as you like! Feedback is always welcome as long as it’s nice please! <3


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